For those full power and Class A stations that are not being repacked, but want to expand their facilities, the FCC’s very short, 10-day temporary lift of the filing freeze that has been in place since 2013 is underway. The freeze will be re-imposed at 11:59 p.m. EST on Thursday, December 7, 2017. Expansions by non-repacked stations must protect those post-auction TV applications that were previously filed.

Why this short window, and why now? The biggest reason is the FCC’s coming displacement filing window for LPTV stations and TV translators. That window is slated for some time in late March 2018. By allowing non-repacked full power and Class A stations to seek expanded facilities before the LPTV window, the FCC is trying to lessen the likelihood that newly permitted LPTV facilities will be displaced yet again by new full power and Class A filings after the LPTV window.